Exodus 28:15-30 And you shall make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue… The emerald is a jewel of a beautiful, soft, rich green colour. Ireland is called the "Emerald Isle" because the grass which covers its hills and valleys is such a beautiful green. When you look at this island from the deck of a vessel far off at sea, it looks like a great jewel — a great emerald rising out of the ocean. The emerald stands, in value among jewellers, next to the ruby. It is spoken of several times in the Bible. In old times people used to think that the emerald had certain wonderful or magical powers. It was not true that it had any such powers. But hope, which is the Bible jewel represented by the emerald, does have them. I wish to speak of three of these powers. This will give us three reasons why hope may be compared to an emerald. I. And the first reason why hope may he compared to an emerald is because it makes us INDUSTRIOUS. People used to think that the emerald had the power of curing idleness or of making men industrious. If it only had this power the emerald would be the most valuable of all jewels. Then, when boys and girls were put to school, it would only be necessary to hang an emerald round each one's neck, and there would be no lazy scholars. The owners of all our workshops and factories would want to have a good supply of emeralds. I need not tell you, however, that the emerald never had any such power as this. But hope, the beautiful Bible jewel, that which the emerald represents, does have this power. If people hope to get rich they know that they must be industrious and work hard. II. Again, people used to think that the emerald had the power of taking away fear. And this leads us to speak of the second reason why hope may be compared to an emerald, because IT MAKES US COURAGEOUS. The Bible tells us that "hope maketh not ashamed" (Romans 5:5). In one place in the Bible hope is compared to a helmet. And a soldier who had his head covered with a good helmet would be very bold and courageous. He would not be afraid when the arrows were flying thick around him. In another place in the Bible hope is compared to an anchor (Hebrews 6:19). Suppose that you and I are at sea on board a vessel. A storm is driving our vessel right on towards a rocky and dangerous coast. If we have no anchor on board we may well be afraid, for pretty soon we shall be dashed against the rocks and perish. But suppose we have a good anchor, and a strong cable to hold it by on board our vessel. We drop our anchor in the sea. It sinks to the bottom and is buried in the mud and sand, or takes hold of the rocks there. It keeps the vessel from drifting towards the shore. We are safe. Our fear is gone. Let the winds blow, and the waves roar ever so much, they can't hurt us. The anchor gives us hope, and this hope makes us bold or courageous. And it is just so when we become Christians. Then we love Jesus. We have hope in Him. That hope is to our souls just like what the anchor is to the sailor. It keeps us from being afraid. III. Another strange power, which it used to be supposed the emerald had, was that of taking away gloom and sadness from the minds of people. Of course this was a mistake. It never had any such power. But this points out to us a third reason why hope may be compared to an emerald. It is because it makes us CHEERFUL. Hope is a bright, sunshiny thing. You know how beautiful the rainbow is! Hope is sometimes compared to the rainbow. And it may very properly be so compared, because it seems to paint in bright colours the things it leads us to look for, and to put rainbows all about them. There is a steam ferry-boat on the river Mersey in England. It runs from Liverpool to Birkenhead and back. Several years ago passengers on that ferry-boat would sometimes see on a warm bright day a poor crippled boy. His body was grown almost to a man's size, but his limbs were withered and helpless, and not bigger than the limbs of a child. He used to wheel himself about in a small carriage, like those that boys use in their play. He had a little musical instrument called a concertina, and on this he used to play some sweet simple tunes. He never asked for anything, but yet very few of the passengers could hear his touching music, or look at his honest, cheerful face, without dropping a penny or two into his carriage. One day a lady was standing near, looking at him with great pity. She thought how sad and lonely he must feel, unable to help himself, and with no prospect of ever being any better in this world. She said to a lady who was with her, but not intending that he should hear it — "Poor boy l what a sad life he has to lead; and nothing in all the future to look forward to!" But he did hear it. And in stepping out of the boat that lady saw a tear in his eye and a bright smile on his face trying to chase the tear away, as he said — "I'm expecting to have wings some day, lady." (R. Newton, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. |
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